Odisha Govt To Increase Plus II Seats Following High Pass Rate In Matric Exam; To Open 106 HS Schools

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday announced its decision to increase the seats in Plus II classes in the state to accommodate more students.

Announcing this, School and Mass Education Minister Sudam Marndi said the number of seats in the Plus II will be increased from the 2023-24 academic year.

The decision to raise the number of seats has been taken in view of a higher pass percentage in Matriculation examination in the state this year. The Minister said that the seats will be increased as per the necessity.

This apart, the government is also all set to open a total of 106 new Higher Secondary schools across the state this year for the benefit of students, said the Minister and School and Mass Education Secretary Awasthy S.

Admission of students to these new schools will be made from the 2023-24 academic session for which all necessary arrangements have been made, she said.

Opening of these new upgraded higher secondary schools will lead to addition of around 13,000 seats for enrolment of students in Plus II.

The district education officers (DEOs) and other field-level officials of the department have been asked to ensure all arrangements to make the admission process to these schools hassle-free.

It may be noted here that the overall pass percentage in the Matriculation examination results of which were declared recently by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha, stood at 96.4 per cent as compared to 90.55 per cent last year. The overall pass percentage of boys is 95.75 per cent and that of girl students is 97.05 per cent.

Meanwhile, form fill-up for admission to Plus II streams in higher secondary schools (HSSs) for 2023-24 academic session started on Monday, even as the department blocked 88 schools from taking in students owing to poor enrolment record, sources said.

The Directorate of Higher Secondary Education (DHSE) reportedly said over 37,000 students registered themselves with the SAMS portal to take part in the admission process for Class XI carried out in online mode on the first day. Of them 22,038 have already applied by filling up the common application form (CAF), while 21,700 deposited their fees.

However, 88 HSSs have reportedly been prevented from enrolling students to Plus II courses, in view of the abysmally low enrolment recorded in the last two years.